Whole Foods Market Bans Live Lobster Sales. Eddie Lin Happy Slaps Whole Foods. Read the UK's Guardian Article.

seafood whole foods
Say "later" to live lobster.

It seems lately Deep End Dining can't blog about anything but lobster and shrimp. At this rate, we'll have to change our name to The Daily Decapod.

Live lobster from now on will be extinct at all Whole Foods Markets. This is what I have to say about the ban.

Comments

elmomonster said…
What's this? You write for Guardian now? Cool beans, but what will become of your blog?
Eddie Lin said…
hey elmo,

so far i've written only one piece for guardian. hopefully there'll be more. not quitting deep end dining though. as long as i can find funky food.
Gourmetish said…
Love the post and completely agree. For those who disagree, they can eat the rubbery frozen or already cooked lobsters to their hearts content. More live lobsters elsewhere for us to eat!
Tricia said…
Fun article over at the Guardian. And along with the lobster bib, there's a whole line at Target of "dollar section" items brandishing a lobster motif - what would happen to such kitsch if this trend is allowed to continue?? :^)
Colleen Cuisine said…
great article Eddie

BOOO to whole foods. I'm with the Norwegians, who recently published a study showing that lobsters can't feel pain.
Eddie Lin said…
Gourmetish,

Let them eat frozen lobster!! That's our battle cry. Thanks for the support.


Tricia,

I love that "dollar section" at Target. Thanks for the heads up on the lobster tchotchke. I'll buy them all up and sell them on eBay when all lobster trinkets become as rare as a wooden nickel.


Colleen,

Hey, sweety, thanks for the compliment. Actually from what I understand both lobsters and Norwegians can't feel pain. Cool!

(The Irish can't feel pain after a dozen pints of Guinness! ;-) )
Juliet said…
Like you, I don't see the logic in all this. Let's just hope other markets and restaurants don't follow this example. I don't shop at Whole Paycheck anyway.
Eddie Lin said…
juliet,

it's so funny that you call whole foods market "whole paycheck". i was almost going to use that jab in the article but decided against it since i wasn't arguing about their high prices. my friend eric always uses that name when he refers to the market.
Personally, I think The Daily Decapod is a great title...
Joan P. said…
Just wanted to say "hello" and that I've been following your blog for a bit. I love to eat. Awesome stuff!
Eddie Lin said…
brian gage,

didn't i drink way too much hite beer with you and consume just as much in cow flesh only the other night? thanks for the note. great website by the way! say "ciao, bella" to the lovely wife.


joan p.,

what a lovely lurker. thanks for coming out. cool blog you have there. hope you find some fulfilling work soon. i love s.f.
Anonymous said…
GIVE ME A BREAK !!!!! What Next ?? Some people should just hug trees and eat sand and rocks if they are so concerned about hurting a shell fish when it's proven that they don't feel pain.
Marc said…
I don't get it. They are still going to sell frozen lobster, right? Do they think that those lobsters aren't killed in the same way? I like Whole Foods, but this seems a bit odd to me.
Eddie Lin said…
anonymous,

yeah, i've eaten sand before and it's not very good. i'll take lobster any day.


marc,

i don't understand that either. maybe whole foods is mainly concerned with the storage of live animals in their stores and how it appears to their customers. clearly, by offering frozen lobster, whole foods isn't too worried about the rest of the lobster processing chain.
yes, dear eddie - t'was me you drank under the table. My head still hurts! let's do it again soon...
KT said…
I'm generally an advocate of animal rights. In this case though, I have to call b.s. on Whole Foods. I don't know what they were keeping their lobster in, but my hometown grocery store always had a live lobster tabk and there was nothing cruel about it! It was just lobsters sitting in a tank, hanging out.

I agree that this is about customers being uncomfortable with it. But honestly, I agree with haddock, who posted over on Accidental Hedonist, that if you are going to eat flesh, you should be comfortable with the fact that it is killed and you should be perfectly willing to even do it yourself, should it come to that.

It's hypocritical to be just fine with buying a frozen lobster (which, if you read about how the frozen lobsters are killed--not exactly humane sounding) but not want to have to see and acknowledge that the lobster was alive and had to die for you to eat it.
Eddie Lin said…
brian gage,

absolutely looking forward to it!!


kt,

thank you for your perspective and thoughtful analysis.